community chest megawad - various

Filename: cchest.zip

File size: 4.43MB

Author: various, including self

Homepage:

Other work: too much to list

This megawad, made by many members of the Doom community (including myself), is
a wide-ranging set of maps which are both highly original and true to the spirit
of Doom. As is only to be expected, the maps' quality is variable, but overall
the standard is very good. Highlights include "Nullth Precinct", an early map
set in a police station; "No Tomorrow", a map full of well-managed open spaces
and economical design; "Technodrome", an enormously complex mission to blow the
whole place to smithereens, and many many more....

Gameplay, again, is variable, but where it's been catered for it's been done very
well. Some of the later maps (the second-to-last one spring to mind) are for
advanced players only; they may take half-an-hour or more to clear out, and need
lots of skill and persistence to do. Regular readers of these columns (who
download the WADs I review) may find some of the early maps oddly familiar...!



No bugs.

Aesthetics are excellent; a lot of the maps look really believable, and texture
placement and alignment has been done well. The best of the maps are the ones
which look like an extension of id Software's original ideas behind Doom - this
was a quality abundant in Final Doom (presumably a reason why it was a commercial
product!) Some ęsthetic highlights (besides those already mentioned): "Termination
Centre", an Evilutionish tech-base; "Another Dead Hero", a very Doom II-ish map;
"Sudden Death", with a well-crafted and economical design; "Blood Demesne", an
all-too-rare well-made hellish map; and the small but apocalyptic final map....
Great work all round.

Thing placement is good overall.

verdict